Good morning. The volume of data is soaring, forcing companies in many industries to deploy a level of analytic processing power that was once reserved for the likes of consumer Internet giants and scientific researchers. Hadoop is often part of that discussion. Every business person with an interest in data should understand Hadoop, regardless of whether it is part of their data strategy or not.

Hadoop is the focus of a new series of CIO Explainers, which explicate complex technology subjects with the business person in mind. Their purpose is to step back from the news, and explain complex topics in a detailed but readable and clear manner. We hope they will be a reference guide that will be useful over an extended period of time. If you're a data scientist, you doubtless know how Hadoop works. But what about the thousands of business people who increasingly work side by side with data scientists, developers and engineers? They need to communicate effectively with their new colleagues. This series of articles is designed with them in mind.

We want your feedback. Please take a moment to complete this poll, and let us know about your company's plans for Hadoop. And let us know how we can make these explainers more helpful.

A screenshot of Geofeedia's service

Geofeedia

Microsoft filters social media for location-specific security. Companies, taking advantage of the digital detritus released by location-tracking smartphones, are finding new ways to monitor what their employees post online. By using technology that connects social media posts to their physical point of origin, companies can clamp down on intellectual property theft, establishing a new connection between cyber and physical security.

Microsoft Corp. uses a software-as-a-service platform that organizes social data by physical location, to detect the possible leaking of intellectual property. The technology,from Chicago-based Geofeedia, lets Microsoft set up a virtual net around the event space used for its annual Microsoft Global Exchange event for employees that sifts through social media content posted by attendees.

Generally speaking, employees are not intending to leak product information. “It’s just that they’ll catch a slideshow in the background of a photo and it will have information on it,” said Jake Lanum, protective intelligence program manager for third-party contractor AS Solution where he works directly with Microsoft. At that point, Microsoft will try to match the social media account with an employee and ask the person to take the post down. Read the full story.

Now is the time to revisit disruptive innovation. Since it was introduced 20 years ago, disruptive innovation has devolved in some quarters from theory to tech conference tagline. "If disruption is a real business theory rather than a marketing term for anything new, it must be applied correctly to realize its benefits," CIO Journal Columnist Irving Wladawsky-Berger writes.

Farmers Insurance hires former Toyota CIO. Ron Guerrier, a 20-year veteran of the IT industry, joins the insurer’s senior leadership team to oversee strategic technology initiatives, the company said.

EUROPE

Technology firms such as Google and Microsoft await a new privacy law that the European Union is likely to enact Tuesday.

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Tech firms gird for new EU privacy law. Technology firms are girding for tough provisions in a new privacy law that European Union officials are likely to agree upon Tuesday, the WSJ reports. The regulation is expected to tighten privacy protections for online users and strip away costly red tape for businesses. “The risk is that it pushes companies to say it isn’t worth the risk to innovate in Europe,” said Alexander Whalen, a senior policy manager for Digital Europe, which represents companies including Microsoft Corp. and Alphabet.’s Google.

NET NEUTRALITY

A chocolate bar underwent testing with SCiO technology earlier this year. SCiO, from Consumer Physics of Israel, can identify substances by measuring the spectrum of light they reflect. It could be used to detect fake or mislabeled foods.

JACK GUEZ/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

Net neutrality proponents warn of loopholes. Some consumer advocates are warning that attempts to circumvent the government’s net-neutrality rules are starting to emerge before they have even taken root, the WSJ’s John D. McKinnon reports. FCC rules are aimed at ensuring online fairness by forbidding Internet-access providers from favoring certain content over others. But with maneuvers such as exempting specific services from their data caps, cable and phone companies can arguably find ways to favor certain content anyway.

STARTUPS

A chocolate bar underwent testing with SCiO technology earlier this year. SCiO, from Consumer Physics of Israel, can identify substances by measuring the spectrum of light they reflect. It could be used to detect fake or mislabeled foods.

JACK GUEZ/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

Startups take bite out of food poisoning. New sensors are cheap and fast enough to add additional layers of inspection to our food system, for suppliers, restaurants and consumers, writes Keywords columnist Christopher Mims. “The ability to analyze and break down the very constituents of our world… will almost certainly create whole new applications, markets and billion-dollar businesses.”

MORE TECHNOLOGY NEWS

General Motors dealers say the company’s early support for building Apple’s CarPlay interface into dashboard displays such as its Sierra pickup truck is helping draw customers to showrooms.

Vanderkaay/GMC

GM gains lift from mobile apps. Some dealers say General Motors Co.’s broad embrace of Apple Inc.’s CarPlay mobile interface software is paying off in greater customer interest in the Detroit auto maker’s vehicles, the WSJ’s Mike Ramsey reports. CarPlay, Apple’s software that displays an iPhone’s screen on a car dashboard and gives access to applications, including Apple’s mapping application, became available on 27 GM models this fall, far more than any other auto company.

Now prices can change from minute to minute. Backed by vast amounts of data and powerful software, more businesses are varying prices by the day, the hour, even the minute, the WSJ’s Jack Nicas reports. Online sellers have used such tactics for years, but frequent price changes are increasingly common in the physical world.

Law enforcement bears down on smartphone crime wave. Amid a thriving black market overseas for smartphones, more criminals are turning to fraud and identity theft to obtain discounted devices in bulk, the WSJ’s Joe Palazzolo reports. The phones are often then resold for use on foreign networks, including in China and the Middle East, where U.S. carriers can’t find them. Profit on their resale can amount to $500 to $1,000 per phone.

Online degree hits learning curve. The Georgia Institute of Technology turned heads in 2013 when it announced plans to offer an inexpensive, online version of its master’s degree in computer science, the WSJ’s Melissa Korn reports. The program graduated its first class -- 20 of them.

Yahoo investors tighten screws.Yahoo Inc. is facing new pressure from investor groups who oppose giving CEO Marissa Mayer more time to show progress on her turnaround, the WSJ reports. Investor dissent is mounting in the wake of Yahoo’s announcement last week to shelve a plan to spin off its shares in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. due to potential tax risks and instead explore a spinoff of its core Internet business.

Behind the boom in online lending: a tiny Utah bank. Utah-chartered WebBank, controlled by Warren Lichtenstein, has become a crucial and highly profitable cog in some of the largest marketplace-lending platforms, including LendingClub Corp. and Prosper Marketplace Inc., the WSJ reports. Tougher times may be coming though. Regulators from the U.S. Treasury and California are looking into whether anyone is cutting corners in fast-growing marketplace lending, and WebBank’s model has also been challenged by a U.S. appellate court decision.

Alibaba’s Hong Kong media push is a shift into a sensitive industry.Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s purchase of Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post marks the latest in a string of moves that align Jack Ma’s firm with China’s political priorities, the WSJ’s Gillian Wong reports. But it will put to the test the political goodwill he has cultivated.

EVERYTHING ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW

Coke president works behind the scenes to cut costs.Coca-Cola’s new No. 2 executive, James Quincey, is helping to implement a $3 billion cost-cutting program at the beverage giant in a critical coming year to boost sales growth. Since becoming Chairman and Chief Executive Muhtar Kent’s top deputy and potential successor, Mr. Quincey has visited Coke managers, bottlers and retailers in about 10 countries, including South Africa, India and China. He also has been helping business units complete their business plans for 2016.

End of an era: England closes its last deep-pit coal mine. The last deep-pit coal mine in the U.K. plans to shut its doors next week, heralding the end of a centuries-old industry that helped fuel the industrial revolution and build the British Empire. The shutdown represents a victory for advocates of reducing carbon emissions after world leaders gathered in Paris to discuss how to combat global warming, with coal in the cross hairs. It also reflects a glut of energy on world markets, from crude oil to natural gas and coal itself.

Mystery of missing inflation weighs on Fed rate move. For years, inflation hasn’t risen as Federal Reserve officials have predicted and they don’t know why. As the Fed prepares to raise rates, getting it wrong this time could risk recession. Unemployment has fallen to 5%, a figure close to estimates of full employment, while inflation remains stuck at less than 1%, well below the Fed’s 2% target.